talking about computers and design
by Ralph Grabowski

Oct 13, 2009

To Google, Architecture is Mapping

Google's new Building Maker software is designed to turn you into willing slave labour, and turn flat Google Earth towns into 3D models. Your pay is the admiration of your peers, or as the Google video says, "millions of people around the world" will see your work. Yah, as if they care about you.

Google has prepped 50 cities with six views of each building. Apply cubes to the building, using the six views to ensure the corners of the cubes match the building's corners. Submit to Google Warehouse, and then someone checks your work.

Can you imagine that job?

"So what do you do?""I work for Google.""Kewl!""Not really. I check that the corners of cubes match the corners of photographed buildings. I do that a couple of thousand times a day. No big deal."